Bonham, Texas – The Bonham City Council held a regular meeting on June 8, 2026. Mayor Allen Sanderson called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. All council members were present, including Jarred Besch, Sam Fox, Wolf Laughing, Kevin Hayes, Ernie Quintana, Clark Smith and the mayor.
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Council approved the minutes of the May 11th regular meeting.
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Council accepted the financial report for the month ending May 31, 2026. Sarah Osburn noted that sales taxes are trending in accordance with the budget.
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Citizens’ Opportunity to Speak:
Ruth McClure thanked the city for fixing her street.
Emily Dempsey asked the council to share more information on their website and in the newspapers. She noted that there is so much misinformation out about what is coming down the pike in Bonham. She pleaded for the city leaders to educate and notify the citizens. She said she could not find any information about the council’s agenda items and yet she heard lots of rumors.
Robert asked who was in charge of Lake Bonham and whether he could drag a fallen tree into the lake. He reported that there is someone who is dragging debris into the lake and it is free floating. He has reported it to the sheriff, city, game warden and North Texas Municipal Water District to no avail. He said he is trying to be a good steward of the lake.
Aaron Eichman lives at Lake Bonham and said that the council has power over his house, but he doesn’t get to vote in city elections. City manager Sean Pate said that residents at the lake do lease their property from the city. They pay an annual leasing fee but they do not pay city taxes. Pate noted that the leasing fees are less than what taxes would be and this is the structure set up long ago. Pate said the city recognizes the lake residents as part of our community and does listen to their input on matters impacting them.
Lisa A stated she thought the airport advisory board is not doing their job. She said her house is buzzed regularly by a crop duster. She said she has called to complain, but nothing has been done about it. She asked to be appointed to the board so she could help do something about it. Someone in the audience stated that the crop duster is the manager of the airport. Pate stated he has observed the plane flying low over his own house too.
Rusty Deets also spoke in agreement about the crop duster flying too low over his house too.
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Osburn announced that the Employee of the Quarter is a member of the Police Department who could not attend this month, so the award will be presented at next month’s meeting.
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Council appointed Wolf Laughing to the Texoma Area Para-transit Board of Directors (TAPS). Shelly White, General Manager with TAPS, spoke about the organization.
TAPS is a nonprofit public transportation provider for Fannin County and several other north Texas counties that relies on local, state and federal funds. White said that last year TAPS provided 913 trips for Bonham residents. These trips were for medical, employment, shopping and other purposes.
White said that local support helps provide matching funds for state and federal funds. She reviewed board duties and said that the organization has had no audit findings in past ten years. John Burnett was most recent representative from city of Bonham to serve on the TAPS board.
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Council voted to appoint Sammy Hardin and reappoint Jake Shockley, Lance Davis and Austin Ashlock to the Airport Advisory Board. There were four open seats and after advertising about the openings, the city received four letters of interest.
Sanderson stated that he expects the board to address the issues raised in the Citizens opportunity to speak.
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Council reappointed Christina Tillett to the Texoma Community Center Board of Trustees.
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Council held a public hearing and then approved an ordinance amending Ordinance 1467 providing for a fee schedule for solid waste collection services inside the city and at Lake Bonham.
Osburn said that this will mean a $1.69 per month increase for customers with one polycart. Osburn also noted that this is the last year of the contract with the current provider. She said that staff is starting to studying this and the city will issue an RFP when it is time to begin seeking a new contract for trash services. Sanderson asked about recycling services.
Osburn asked council members to give additional input about what other services they want to put in the RFP.
Deets spoke out about the current contractor and complained that they leave the carts in the streets.
Osburn said that this has been addressed before to no avail. She expressed a willingness to talk with the provider’s representative again about this issue and asked if any council members wanted to join her. Several council members were willing to meet and Osburn said she will set the meeting.
Pate told the council he believes that the city will get several competitive bids for trash services when they put out the next RFP.
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Council held a public hearing and then denied approving an ordinance authorizing the Issuance of City of Bonham, Texas Combination Tax and Surplus Revenue Certificates of Obligation, Series 2026, in the principal amount of $4,335,000 to fund Water System Improvements and awarding the sale of such Certificates of Obligation to the Texas Water Development Board; and resolving other matters relating to the subject.
Osburn advised council to deny this ordinance and explained about the changing opportunities that have come to the city. The city is currently hoping to get additional funding provided so that the city will only need to contribute about $1 million towards the projects instead of $4 million.
Questions were raised from the audience about what all would be included in this project.
Pate and Osburn explained that this will fund another mainline to town and various other improvements to the water infrastructure in the city. Osburn said they can post the project info on the city’s website for folks to read and review.
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Council adopted a Resolution authorizing an application for Financial Assistance from the Texas Water Development Board.
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Council held a public hearing and then approved an Ordinance amending Ordinance 1497 designating a geographic area that is within the corporate limits of the City as a reinvestment zone, to be known as Reinvestment Zone Number Three, City of Bonham; describing the boundaries for the Zone; creating a Board of Directors for the Zone and appointing Directors to the Board; establishing a Tax Increment Fund for the Zone; containing findings related to the creation of the Zone; providing for a date of termination for the Zone; providing that the Zone take effect immediately upon the passage of the Ordinance.
Pate said that this zone will include downtown and the corridors of Highway 56, 82 and 121. Pate said that the council approved this in April and then the city took this proposal to the county. The county asked for two representatives on this board and city staff agreed to this change. Therefore, the city staff was now bringing this proposal back to the council for their approval.
Pate said that this was the same as what the city approved in April, with the one change being that the county will have two representatives on the board.
Pate pointed out that no taxes will be raised with this approval. He explained that as improvements get made in this zone, 50% of any increases in taxes due to increases in property values will be invested in the fund. These funds will then be available to help fund improvements in the zone. Pate said that this is the mechanism that has helped to fund improvements to the downtowns in Denison, McKinney and Sulphur Springs.
BEDCO Director William Meyers said that information about Tax Reinvestment Zones is available on the BEDCO website, which is part of the city website. Meyers also emphasized his appreciation for the county being a part of this effort.
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Council opened a public hearing in accordance with Section 372.009, Local Government Code, regarding the proposed creation of the Legacy Ridge Public Improvement District. Sanderson said the public hearing will remain open until the next council meeting, which is set for July 13.
Pate said there is a discrepancy about how many acres and will be included in this development. He also pointed out that this development will also be discussed at the next Planning & Zoning meeting on Thursday, June 18 at 5:30 pm.
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Council postponed to their next regular meeting on July 13 the vote on a Resolution of the City of Bonham, Texas Authorizing and Creating the Legacy Ridge Public Improvement District in Accordance with Chapter 372 of the Texas Local Government Code; Providing for Related Matters; and Providing an Effective Date.
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Council opened a public hearing and will continue the public hearing at their next regular meeting on July 13 regarding an Ordinance designating a geographic area that is partially within the corporate limits of the City and partially within the extraterritorial jurisdiction of the City as a reinvestment zone, to be known as Reinvestment Zone Number Four, City of Bonham; describing the boundaries for the Zone; creating a Board of Directors for the Zone and appointing Directors to the Board; establishing a Tax Increment Fund for the Zone; containing findings related to the creation of the Zone; providing for a date of termination for the Zone; providing that the Zone take effect immediately upon the passage of the Ordinance.
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Council approved an ordinance establishing rules, fees, occupancy limitations, and operational regulations for camping and recreational vehicle use at Lake Bonham recreation areas.
Osburn said the city has a job posting for a new lake manager. She said that this ordinance will help clean up things at the lake and there will be new regulations about the length of stay, updating rates and limiting the number of vehicles at each spot. The city will also be working on new signage at the lake.
Sanderson commented that the city needs to make sure the lake is safe and clean.
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Council approved a sub-agreement with Fannin County for the Rural Ambulance Grant Program.
Fire Chief Hughes said County would apply for HB3000 funds and the city would be a sub-recipient of about $350k for a new ambulance that would be expected to arrive in September 2027. This would replace an ambulance that is nearing its end of life.
Hughes said that the county was great to work with on this effort.
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Meeting adjourned at 6:41 p.m.
